


What The Ocean Hides

by VanillaKiss



Category: BTOB
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, First Meetings, M/M, Merman sungjae, Ocean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-03-07 10:11:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18871105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaKiss/pseuds/VanillaKiss
Summary: Ilhoon finds an old book about merpeople at his grandmother's place and when he asks his grandmother if she's ever heard about them, she tells him that Ilhoon's grandfather had met them years ago, and actually, it was him, who wrote it. Although his grandmother opposes his decision, Ilhoon and his best friend, Peniel decide to find them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> for day5 of iljaeweekmay19

Ilhoon found that book when he visited his grandmother before her birthday. He went there with his mother to surprise her and eventually stayed for a few days. One could say that it was because Ilhoon was in his rebellious years that he and her mother fought a lot, but that wasn’t true. He was already 21, living alone. After his father suddenly disappeared from their lives two years ago, his relationship with his mother started getting worse and worse.

 

One day, when he and his mother fought again, he ran up the stairs that led to the loft. He hated that place in his entire life but at that moment this seemed the perfect place to hide. It had always looked so scary. No one used it ever since his grandfather passed away more than twenty years ago. Back then, when he came over for a few days, he always avoided this place. Even standing before the stairs made him scared, let alone the loft itself.

 

Now he just wanted to be alone. He knew he was being childish. They could’ve solved their problem with talking, but that was what neither of them wanted. They rather waited a few days to contact the other again than talk about their problems properly, how the responsible adult would.

 

As he was walking around there, he found it.  _ A book. _

 

"What the ocean hides," he read the title. "What the hell?" he grimaced and set the book aside. He found some old pictures of his grandparents and hir mother, those seemed more interesting than an old book.

 

He couldn't sleep well on that night. He could swear he heard the ocean. _ It called him. _

 

**Come**

**Come**

**Come**

 

He woke up drenched in cold sweat. However, when he tried to recall his dream, he only saw the ocean under the night sky, stars reflecting back on its surface. It was calm but this calmness just made the ocean even more terrifying. It was mysterious and how it called him, felt like it was a wild animal, hunting down its prey.

 

He thought of that book he found earlier.  _ What the ocean hides. _

 

According to the digital clock’s display, it was only three in the morning. However, Ilhoon couldn't sleep anymore. He could still hear quietly that voice. It wasn't a human's voice. It was something else.

 

_ The ocean _

 

He got up and went outside. He thought maybe the chilly air would calm him down. He shivered as he walked to the swing. He used it a lot when he was still little. Well, not as if he grew that much since then. He could easily sit down without being afraid of breaking it off. 

 

He looked up at the sky. It was cloudy, he couldn't see any stars. He sighed. That book bothered him. He wanted to wait until morning but he couldn't, so he decided to go back  to the loft. He wasn’t as scared as earlier but he still hesitated before he entered the room. He turned on the lights.

 

The book was still there where he left it. He took it in his hands and ran his fingers over the cover.  _ What the ocean hides. _ He opened it slowly. There was a drawing of a mermaid on the first page.  _ Strange _ , he thought. On the next page, the title said  _ When the ocean calls. _

 

"The ocean calls?" he read it out loud. He shivered.

 

He thought back of his dream.

 

**Come**

**Come**

**Come**

 

" Hey, that's more than creepy," he said with a trembling voice. He took his phone out of his pocket and texted Peniel.

 

ILHOON: Something is weird

PENIEL: Why are you awake?

ILHOON: I could ask you the same

PENIEL: True lol. So? What happened?

ILHOON: I found this book yesterday. I only read the title but had a very strange dream. It was more like a nightmare, so I came back to this book and the first, well the second page, (if we count that drawing of that mermaid) it says “when the ocean calls”

PENIEL: And?

ILHOON: THE FUCKING OCEAN CALLED ME IN MY DREAM

PENIEL: Are you sure? Maybe you're just confused. Or it's just a coincidence.

ILHOON: Coincidence?

PENIEL: Maybe you're dreaming now.

ILHOON: why? Do you feel like you aren't real?

PENIEL: no, but you should go to sleep

ILHOON: THANK YOU FOR NOTHING! ! !

 

Ilhoon slid his phone back into his pocket. He flipped a page. Then another. Then another.

 

"Bullshit," Ilhoon murmured. "Merpeople, huh?"

 

Ilhoon yawned. He was getting sleepy. His fear disappeared as soon as he read parts of the book and saw the illustrations. The whole book was about merpeople.

 

He sighed and wished he could turn back time and not text Peniel. It was nothing, just him being paranoid. He probably dreamed about the ocean because he read the title earlier. Maybe he opened the book and read the first title when he was here in the afternoon, just didn’t remember it.

 

He laughed at himself and went back to sleep. On the next day, his grandmother asked him if he saw a book. Apparently, the old woman saw him when she went to the kitchen to get a drink.

 

"I did," Ilhoon replied. "Is it a problem?"

 

"No, I guess," she shrugged. Ilhoon's mother was still asleep so it was just the two of them in the living room. 

 

"Have you ever heard about merpeople?"

 

"Do you know who the author of that book was?" Ilhoon shook his head. "Your grandfather."

 

"What?" It took Ilhoon by surprise. "He wrote…"

 

"He did. Although I’ve never seen them, your grandfather did. It happened before we met," she started. "He was a fisherman but his boat got caught in a storm one time he was out there. He thought he would die but when he woke up, he was on an island with two people," She rubbed her wrinkled hands. "They were merpeople."

 

"And they just let grandpa write that book?" Ilhoon frowned.

 

"I don't think they know about it. When he started writing it, he already stopped visiting that island."

 

After this talk, Ilhoon was deep in thought all day.  _ Merpeople. _ One part of him wanted to believe it, especially knowing that his grandfather met them and even wrote a book about them. But the rational side of him told him that it just couldn't be real. Merpeople are from fairy tales. How could they live in reality?

 

"So it's real, huh?" Peniel asked. They were talking on the phone. Ilhoon couldn't keep it to himself only, he needed to tell it to someone. And that someone couldn't be any other person than his best friend.

 

"Yes," he replied. He was sitting on the swing again. "Don't you want to find them?"

 

"Not really?"

 

"What?" Ilhoon gasped. "But imagine, finding a pretty mermaid," he grinned.

 

"So you want to find them?" Ilhoon could hear Peniel's sigh.

 

"Yes. We can use my grandfather's boat," he said, excitedly. "I thought-"

 

Someone grabbed the phone and took out of his hand. When he turned around, he met his grandmother's strict look.

 

"Wh- Why?" he yelled.

 

"I don't want you to die the same death as your grandfather," she said.

 

"The same…" Ilhoon repeated, eyes wide.

 

"The ocean took him away from me."

 

"The ocean…" Ilhoon didn't know what to say. He always thought his grandfather died because he was already too old. But thinking about it, he was only 21 now, his  grandfather couldn't be that old when he died. It happened a few years before he was born.

 

"He said multiple times that the ocean called him," she pressed her lips together. "He tried everything he could but everything was useless. The ocean is too powerful, Ilhoon."

 

He remembered his dream again.

 

**Come**

**Come**

**Come**

 

"You're not allowed to go," she said, turning back and walking away with Ilhoon's phone.

 

However, this couldn't stop Ilhoon. He asked his mother if he could use her phone, called Peniel and on the next day, they were ready to go. They packed some food, clothes to change and the book. They had everything they needed. For the first time, Ilhoon was happy his father taught him everything he had to know about fishing.

 

Their destination was the island they found in the book. They could just hope they wouldn’t get in danger in the meantime. Ilhoon felt guilty. He just left without a word. Not like he was a child and had to tell them everything he was doing, but going to this journey was something that made his grandmother very, very, very worried. He lost his husband like that, and if Ilhoon didn’t succeed, he’d lost his only grandson too. 

 

He was sitting on an old chair, sighing repeatedly, staring at the ocean. It was their second day there. He waited for the ocean to call him, but it didn’t happen. It was silent, only a few birds chirped around them. Peniel stood behind him, putting his hands on Ilhoon’s shoulders and massaging him.

 

"Did something happen?" he asked.

 

Ilhoon shook his head. "I just-"

 

Kong

 

The fishing net caught something.

 

"Maybe it’s our pretty mermaid," Ilhoon winked.

 

They ran out and pulled the fishing net out of the water.

 

Neither Ilhoon nor Peniel could believe what they just saw.

 

They laid down it on the ground and stared at it with disbelief.

 

Then Ilhoon poked Peniel's arm.

 

"That's… That's a man," Ilhoon said, eyes widening.

 

Peniel snorted. " _A merman._ "

 


	2. Chapter 2

"Who are you?" the merman hissed. "What is this thing on me?" he tried to free himself but the fishing net was too tight so he just hurt himself with every move.

"Ilhoon, I think we should let him go back," Peniel pointed at the merman's tail which already started bleeding.

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Ilhoon kneeled next to the creature and reached out his hand carefully.

"I'll free you, okay? Just don't move, I don't want to hurt you."

Despite Ilhoon saying this, the merman started moving his tail again, the net cutting deep into his flesh. The two humans stepped back and waited until the merman calmed down.

"Hey, shhh!" Ilhoon tried again, reaching out his hand. It was a slow and careful movement, and he started stroking the merman's cheek gently. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."

The merman's eyes widened in surprise but leaned into the touch. He reminded Ilhoon of a cat which was funny since this creature was half fish. He let them do what they had to and when he was free again, he jumped into the water and disappeared from their sight.

"Well, we couldn't find any mermaid," Ilhoon said, looking in the distance. The sun was setting down, the sky was orange and pink with a little tint of blue and red. It was sad.

Ilhoon always hated the sunsets. They always made him sad for no reason.

"What should we do?" Peniel asked, putting the fishing net into a wooden box. "To be honest with you, I don't really want to use the boat at night. I was scared as hell last night as well but there wasn't any land near so I could just hope nothing bad would happen."

"Oh, okay. I don't really want to use it at night either," Ilhoon nodded. "So we got stuck on this island, huh?"

"Yeah," Peniel nodded. "We can sleep on the boat. We didn't sleep last night at all but I saw the cabin and it looked pretty comfortable. I mean, it's more comfortable than sleeping on a tree or who knows where." He looked at the trees near the shore. "Do we know where we are?"

Ilhoon shrugged. "We can't be that far, I guess."

Peniel sighed. "I can't believe we really came here just because you read a book from your grandfather who met some merpeople. Thinking back, everyone would think we are two idiots because this whole story sounds like a fairy tale. And you know, if we wouldn’t have seen than merman minutes ago, I would agree with them."

Ilhoon chuckled. "Good thing we saw it."

The boat had a small cabin with a single bed and a smaller wardrobe. It wasn’t as comfortable as Peniel thought before but it was better than just sleeping somewhere on this strange island.

"I'm a cuddler," Ilhoon warned him as he climbed over Peniel who was already lying on the bed.

"You say it like I don't know," Peniel laughed. "Just cuddle me, buddy. It's okay."

Ilhoon couldn't sleep. A part of him was disappointed because he was expecting a mermaid but what they caught was a merman. A very pretty merman, Ilhoon noted. And it’s not like gender made a big difference for him, it was just that he slightly preferred girls more. The other part of him was excited because hey, that was a real merman.

He took a deep breath and climbed over Peniel to get up from the bed. He thought maybe the chilly air would calm him down.

The night sky was clear, there wasn't any cloud on there. He could see the moon on the surface of the ocean.

_The ocean_

_It was dark_

_It was scary_

"What are you doing here?" he heard a familiar voice. He looked down. A head was peeking out of the water.

"Why are you here?" Ilhoon asked, surprised.

"I couldn't swim away," the merman replied. "You know, my tail is injured because of some idiots and the sharks noticed it so they started chasing me. Now I'm hiding here, hoping none of them will go this close to the shore."

"Sharks?!" Ilhoon exclaimed. "Can I… Can I help you somehow?" He looked around, looking for something that could give him a good idea. "What if I take you out of the water?"

"Why would you do that?" He swam back a few meters.

"You could stay here until your injuries are healed," Ilhoon said.

"I don't know if you noticed it already but I'm a fucking fish. I might look like a human, well, partly, but I am not." His brown eyes were shining in the moonlight. "I need water. I can go out of the ocean, but I need water to live. Without it, I would be able to stay alive for a day, maybe."

"Really?"

"Yes," the merman nodded.

"Then I'll take you home," Ilhoon shrugged. "My bathtub is pretty big. You can use it until your injuries are healed."

"I think it's a very bad idea," the merman sighed. "I don’t trust you."

"I don’t want to hurt you."

"Do you think I would believe it?" He narrowed his eyes. "After what you and your friend did to me?"

"I’m sorry. I wasn’t actually expecting a real mermaid-" he corrected himself, "a real merman to show up."

The mysterious creature sighed. "I believe you. You are not lying." His stare was intimidating. "Okay, help me out." He swam closer to the boat and let Ilhoon catch him again with the fishing net. When he was lying on the ground, Ilhoon helped him out of it.

"So what now?" the merman asked, waiting.

"Oh," Ilhoon didn't really think about that. "When are you changing into a human? Do you have to get dry first?"

"No?" The merman raised an eyebrow. "It's our choice. I change into a human when I want to. But let me be honest with you," he glared at Ilhoon. "I hate being human."

It wasn't even a second and his tail disappeared. There were two legs instead of it, both of them injured. It looked like changing into a human didn't make the wounds disappear.

"We have a bed, it's a single bed, pretty small, and my friend is already sleeping there but you can sleep there instead of me," Ilhoon said, waiting for the merman to stand up.

But he was just staring at him with dark eyes. Dark and deep just like the ocean at night.

"I rarely use my legs. They're weak." He reached out.

Ilhoon blinked at his hand before he realized the merman was waiting for him to help him up. Ilhoon grabbed his hand with one hand, his waist with the other and pulled him up. However, the merman was way taller and more muscular than him, therefore it was a difficult task to take him inside.

"I'll be okay here. Go, sleep inside," he said in front of the door.

"But-"

"I'm okay. Also, do you really think I would just sleep with some random human I don’t even know?”

Ilhoon sighed and helped the merman sit down. He went inside and returned with a blanket, clothes, clear water and a towel. He kneeled in front of the merman and started wiping down the dried blood from his legs. The merman hissed but remained silent the whole time. Without a word, he sat down next to him and covered themselves with the blanket.

"What are you doing?" The merman raised an eyebrow, glaring at him with suspicious eyes.

"I thought you'd be lonely," Ilhoon replied. "And I couldn't sleep. That's why I was outside."

"Hm." The merman hummed and pulled the blanket up so it covered his nose. "You could've lent me some clothes. I'm naked."

Ilhoon blushed. "Sorry, I don't have more clothes except these on me and the ones I wore yesterday."

"It's okay," he sighed. "Also, this whole situation is just weird. Like how did I end up sitting on a boat, in human form, naked under a blanket which I actually share with a man who wants to take me home because I’m injured and his bathtub is big?"

Ilhoon laughed. “Okay, it’s actually funny if you say it like this.”

“You won’t show me to other humans, right? It’s a secret, okay? Don’t betray me,” he sounded scared.

“I won’t, don’t worry!”

The merman closed his eyes. “I can tell if you’re lying,” he said silently. “Remember this. You can’t lie to me.”

“That sounds scary,” Ilhoon said, smiling. “Is it some merman superpower?”

“Only the noble merpeople can do this,” he replied.

“Does that mean you’re some big name in the underwater world?”

The merman chuckled. “Yeah, you can say that.”

“What’s your name, by the way?” Ilhoon asked. “I’m Ilhoon.”

“Sungjae.”

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: 6vanillakiss


End file.
